


Trypophobia

by Ramul



Category: Original Work
Genre: Bar, Body Horror, F/M, Horror, One Night Stands, Trypophobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-29
Updated: 2019-11-29
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:21:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21602905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ramul/pseuds/Ramul
Summary: On a bar trip to search for a one-night stand, John got more holes than he had asked for.





	Trypophobia

**Author's Note:**

> Another horror short from 2013.

When he entered, familiar sensations washed over him. Gloomy light, the smell of smoke and alcoholic beverages, the sound of music.  
John was going to have some fun today.  
He checked the faces at the tables as he walked towards the bar. Most of them were occupied with their drinks or other people, and the ones looking back at him as he passed were men in their thirties, not the kind of people John was interested in right now.  
He ordered a drink at the bar, a cocktail he hadn't tried before and with a name he probably had pronounced wrong. Weird name or not, it did taste good. Looking at the people standing at the bar, which he could only see from behind previously, he did spot a woman to the right, all alone, sipping on her glass. She was rather good-looking, slender, tall, and had very intriguing hair, which resembled a lion's mane, being tightly curled and of a fiery red colour. John smiled to himself and slowly inched closer to her, thinking of an appropiate pick-up line in the process. As he was close enough for a conversation, he just settled for a classic.  
„Are you new here? I swear, I did never see you here before.“  
The woman turned her head to him and smiled.  
„Yes, I am.“  
Wonderful. It worked. He smiled back at her, out of friendliness and a small feeling of triumph.  
„And where are you from, if I may ask?“  
„I moved from the capital to Oaksbridge this week.“ She turned her head away from him and looked up instead, as if she was recalling memories. „It was a bit too hectic and noisy there for my tastes. Such a depressing atmosphere there, everyone seemingly living in their own fishbowl.“  
John couldn't tell much about how it was in the capital, as he was only twice there, to get from the central train station to the airport and back again two weeks later.  
„And, do you like Oaksbridge better?“  
„Well, it's not that I have been for very long in Oaksbridge now, but at least the people here appear to be friendly.“ She sighed. „It's always better when they are more open, much easier to live with friends around.“  
„Yes, that's true. Much easier. Getting help with moving in, getting information on the best places to shop, being able to borrow things you need,...“  
„Or getting other important services“, she added with a smirk that told more than words would. „Yes.“ John couldn't believe his luck. A beautiful woman, and so easy to have her open up. He would not sleep alone tonight, that was for sure. Even her face was appealing, having so much character with those blue eyes and freckles. One thing struck him odd about her face though, as he could only see her right half. The left part was hidden under her thick, red locks, he wondered why. John decided this will be something he would ask her later.  
„And you, how do you live here?“  
John looked at her with confusion for a moment, then his smile returned.  
„Oh, nothing special. Desk job all day, superhero all night.“ He chuckled. „No, just joking in the latter part.“

He told her about his life, regularly asking her about her life as well, to keep her engaged. Then the topic of pets came up, when he mentioned his late pug he had during his high school years.  
„I never had a dog, as I like the cold-blooded animals more. I had a fish tank a few years ago. The fish usually didn't make it well there, most died after a few months. But the Surinam toads I had, those were thriving.“  
„Surinam toads?“ John looked at her in disgust, then found his compositure back. „Sorry. But, I did see a documentary about them once, and that mating behaviour of them, it really creeped me out.“  
She laughed out loud. „Oh, you mean when the male pushes the eggs into the female's skin, which grows around the eggs and it looks like a honeycomb, where the baby frogs emerge from later? I find it really fascinating, what many different ways Mother Nature comes up with to solve one and the same problem. Why do you think it's creepy?“  
„The holes.“ John suppressed a shiver. „It's those closely-spaced holes in their skin.“  
„You are afraid of holes?“  
John snorted in a suppressed laugh. „No, not just holes. A single hole is fine. A few holes are okay, too. But when there are many, my skin crawls. The doctors have a name for that, something like thyri..., trysto...“  
„Trypophobia.“  
„Yes, that. I find it weird myself. It's not that those holes will swallow someone.“  
„That they probably won't“, she answered with a much-saying smile. „But it's still not as strange as being afraid of buttons or cotton balls. Those don't bite, either.“  
Something about her face expression was getting unsettling for him, so he wanted to switch the topic. Speaking of faces...  
„Um, I hope that's not offensive to you or such, but...“ he gesticulated at the left side of his face with a raised eyebrow.  
„Oh, that...“ her hand went up, briefly touching her hair as if she wanted to pull the locks covering the left side of her face back, but then her hand sank back again. „I have a tattoo on that cheek, and as long as I'm still new here, I don't want to show it. I don't really know how the attitude here is about such things.“  
„I am okay with that, what is that for a tattoo?“  
„Maybe you will find that out later.“  
He smiled and nodded slightly, seeing her finishing her glass.  
„If you want to drink more, I will pay. I'm inviting you, to celebrate your move here.“  
„Thank you for the invitation. I want to try what you have.“

A hour, discussion topics ranging from the current politics over differences between living in small towns and large cities to preferred clothing during work and several more drinks later, John decided he will reel his catch in.  
Brushing with a hand over his forehead, he said, „Man, it's late, isn't it?“  
„Not late enough to go to sleep“, she answered.  
„Sure, sure, the night is young. Anything you were thinking about, going for a walk, switching to a more noble etablissement than a bar or-“  
„I was thinking of...“ she was slowly twirling a lock around a finger during the pause, „...going out of the cigarette smoke lingering in here, to your place, where you tell me all about the good places in Oaksbridge I have to know as a newbie and maaaybe I will show you that tattoo you keep trying to make out between my hair.“  
John grinned broader than he wanted and called the barkeeper to pay. As his business in this bar was finished for today and he was on the process of walking out with the woman he just met, he suddenly stopped.  
„Oh wow, I'm stupid! I was talking with you all the time now and even didn't ask your name.“   
„My name is Julie.“  
„Hah, that's awesome. I'm John. Both our names start with J.“  
„Really? What a coincidence.“

Despite having several drinks John decided to take his car, as he didn't want to waste time waiting for the bus or a cab. He just drove extra slow and careful, not just because of the cocktails he had, but also because he and Julie were continuing their talk in the car, with the talk getting more humorous. Humorous and not suited for minors.  
When he finally reached his place, they were practically running upstairs, laughing. After John fumbled his door open, he immediately slammed it shut, which resulted in a neighbour throwing an agitated curse. They were undressing on the way to his bed, giggling and laughing and fumbling at each other, and only had their underwear left when they actually reached it. The underwear flew off quickly afterwards.  
John was amazed with his catch tonight. Not only was she good-looking and an interesting talking partner, but her skills in bed were amazing. She was the first woman he met who started the lovemaking with oral, and when it came down to the actual business, he wished they would never finish. She was surprisingly creative with positions, switching them often and one being better than the other. Still, somehow she managed to let him last longer in this frenzy of pleasure, with them being able to try out more than he could think of. In this haze of lust he noticed that, despite in what position they were doing it in, her left side of the face was always covered by the locks, and whenever he kissed her and tried to get the hair out of the way, she skillfully avoided it, keeping the tattoo on her right cheek a well-hidden mystery. Then, when John could finally feel the session coming to an end, while he was doing her in a simple missionary position she seemed to have saved up for the last, she smiled at him and placed a hand on the hair covering her face.  
„You wanted to see my tattoo, right?“  
John just nodded. While he did care about her tatto the least right now, he thought it would be awesome to come inside her while devouring her face with his gaze in the whole than just the half.  
Her hand slowly pulled her hair to the side...  
He felt the pressure building up more and more, ready to be released...  
Then, instead of climaxing, he emitted a long, loud scream of terror.  
She wasn't hiding a tattoo behind her hair, what she revealed wasn't even to be called a face. Instead, it was a mass of tightly-packed, pulsating red holes.  
John wanted to run, to scamper away, just to bring as much space as possible between himself and her face, but the shock had him paralyzed, all his muscles cramped up at the same time in his fear, preventing him from doing anything. She smiled the unsettling smile he did see on her in the bar when she was talking about the toads, this time hundred times creepier.  
„Do you like it?“  
Forced to stare into her face, just being able to pant helplessly, John's gaze was fixed on the holes. They appeared to spread and fill out his whole field of vision, until he seemed to be surrounded and enveloped by them. Then, reduced only to being able to gasp, he noticed something moving in the black depth of the holes. Her voice shortly broke into the haze of fear.  
„Thank you for helping out.“  
All that followed was silence and darkness. 


End file.
